


Pathetic

by all-i-need-is-destiel (Aleakim)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dad Dean, Fluff, M/M, Mechanic Dean, Neighbors, Teacher Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 13:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5968729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleakim/pseuds/all-i-need-is-destiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Dean is too much of a coward to talk to the new hot neighbor and in the end uses his daughter as an alibi.</p><p>_</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pathetic

Dean is the most pathetic human being on earth.

At least there is no other way to describe himself, he’s sure of that. Just downright pitiful! A lame excuse for a man who claims to have his life in a tight grip.

But in his defense … he _really_ thought he did!

He is a successful businessman - he owns an auto shop and makes some fine money -, lives in a nice house just out of town with a little suburban touch (but not too much) and the most important thing, he has got the most beautiful daughter in the whole wide world.

Sure, most fathers probably think their children are the center of the universe, but in Dean’s case it’s _fucking true_ , okay?

So summarized, Dean used to be more than happy with his life. Content. At ease.

And then Castiel Novak moved into the house right across the street and Dean transformed into a pathetic chickenshit.

Just freaking embarrassing!

It’s clearly not the first time he encountered an attractive man and usually he turns on his charms and that’s about it. Sure, he’s still a little clumsy with the whole flirting-with-a-guy-business since his attraction to men is mostly rare so he didn’t get a lot of practice beforehand but in the end his winning smile, his looks, a few jokes about sports and cars and some bad pickup-lines always gets him the prize in the end.

But there is something different about Castiel.

First of all, he is not only attractive, he is just _drop-dead gorgeous!_ The well-toned figure (the guy is a runner and you can definitely see that!), the easy smile, the bed hair and especially those _goddamned otherworldly beautiful eyes_!

They’re just so intensive and _so fucking blue_ Dean was rendered speechless the first time he came close to Castiel and he is ever since. Apart from their morning routine (”Hello Dean! Have a nice day!”) and a few pleasantries including the weather they didn’t have one single conversation in the past two months and it’s killing Dean!

He really doesn’t know what to do.

And it’s not just the looks (Dean would be able to get over that eventually) but the whole package. Castiel is the type of guy who helps old ladies with their groceries and rescues puppies (and the small dog he brought with him the other day seems to adore the shit out of Castiel and Dean certainly can’t blame him). Furthermore he is a elementary teacher and seems to love his job and the children immensely.

He is the guy you take out on nice dates, introduce to your parents and marry someday.

And normally Dean is scared by all this and runs away into the opposite direction but in this special case there is no freaking out. Just the realization that he should get his shit together really fast before some other guy or girl comes along and notices how fucking perfect Castiel is. So mission number one: Talk to the guy!

Easier said than done though.

For the life of it he can’t make up any good excuse to just cross the road and start talking. It should be easy enough, they’re neighbors after all and there’s always something to talk about, if necessary even about Mrs. Johnson’s constant battle against the perpetually growing ant population in her backyard.

Just a few words, nothing fancy or deep. Only to let Castiel know Dean is witty, nice and has got a sense of humor.

That would be more than enough for a start.

But he is simply too chickenshit.

Fucking pathetic.

Even when an opportunity presents itself on a freaking silver platter - a letter addressed to Castiel in Dean’s mail box - he just gets lost in Castiel’s inhuman eyes the second his beautiful neighbor stands in front of him, mumbles something about overworked mailmen and disappears before Castiel even has a chance to thank him.

Yeah, it’s sad.

Maybe the saddest thing human kind ever witnessed before.

And it doesn’t help one bit that all the other neighbors seem to know exactly what’s going on. Mrs. Harris teases him mercilessly and Mrs. Cole brings over some pie every other day to comfort him and tell him that eventually everything will work out (and yeah, he kind of likes that, at least the pie, so he never complains). Hell, even Mrs. Johnson finds some time away from her beloved ants to pity him.

And one day he just snaps.

It’s an usual Saturday afternoon, nothing special about it, and Dean just sits on the front porch watching his daughter Emma play with her basketball (she seems to develop a passion for that type of sport) and occasionally throwing a glance at Castiel’s house, hoping his favorite neighbor would show his beautiful face today.

No, not just hoping.

 _Craving_.

Before he knows what he’s even doing he jumps up, takes his daughter’s ball and throws it across the street right into Castiel’s backyard, with all the force he’s got.

And he regrets it almost immediately.

“Dad?”

Dean closes his eyes and hates himself some more. “Um … yeah?”

He tries to look casual as if all this is a daily occurrence and not the work of a pathetic man. He looks at his daughter and yeah, right there is bitch face #16.

She is spending _way too much_ time with Sam!

“You’re such a loser,” she finally states, shaking her head.

Dean groans. “I know!”

He grabs her hand, mutters an apology she clearly doesn’t seem to appreciate and drags her to Castiel’s front door, knocking, before he can’t himself talk out of it.

Part of him hopes his neighbor won’t be at home so he has got a chance to prepare himself for the encounter or buy Emma a new basketball (whatever his pitiful mind would decide) but then the door opens and Dean feels a lump forming in his throat.

Because there is no way in hell this guy is a simple human being!

Maybe an angel, like his name would suggest …

“Hello,” Castiel says and this right there, that’s another problem. This gravelly voice that goes straight to Dean’s downstairs brain and makes it simply impossible to form a coherent sentence, let alone a whole conversation.

“Uh … hello,” Dean manages to croak. “Sorry to … well, bother you but my daughter … um, she threw her ball into your garden by accident.”

Castiel looks fairly surprised. “Really? Across the street? That’s an impressive reach.”

“Yes, isn’t it?” Emma deadpans, throwing Dean a glance that says _You’re so going to pay for this, using me as your freaking alibi_!

Thankfully Castiel doesn’t seem to notice the slight tension between father and daughter. He just smiles his easy smile and says, “You can go through the back and search for your ball if you like.”

“Thank you, Mr. Novak.” Emma throws Dean a last glance - bitch face #35 ( _”Don’t mess this up or I’ll kick your ass!”_ ) - and disappears.

Leaving her father all alone with the hottest neighbor in existence.

Dean coughs uncomfortably and is about to start a conversation about the dry weather or some other unimportant stuff but fortunately Castiel beats him to it. “Would you like to come inside for some coffee?”

Dean blinks surprised. “Um … yeah, I’d love to.”

And he could be wrong but Castiel looks way too happy about that simple acceptance for coffee and company.

The inside of Castiel’s house is nice and inviting and Dean feels comfortable immediately. He is about to say so but then Castiel touches him lightly at the wrist to lead him to the kitchen and Dean is lost for words again.

“How do you like your coffee?” Castiel asks.

Huh?

How is he supposed to remember such stuff while looking in those inhuman eyes?

“Um … black, two sugars.” Dean isn’t entirely sure if this is actually his own preference or Sam’s or Dr. Sexy’s but who cares anyway?

“I noticed that Emma is quite fond of basketball,” Castiel says before offering Dean a mug with hot steaming coffee. “I saw her playing in your driveway several times.”

“Uh … yeah,” Dean answers intelligently. “She likes it very much. I’m thinking about looking up some classes. I don’t know if she’d like that but you can at least try, right?”

Castiel gives him the most beautiful smile in the world in return. “You’re right, Dean.”

And Dean just _loves_ how Castiel says his name in that deep voice. He’d love to hear it on a lot more occasions.

“My colleagues tell me she is a very exceptional girl,” Castiel says.

“Colleagues?” Dean is confused for a moment but then he remembers that Castiel is a teacher at Emma’s elementary school. They don’t cross paths there but apparently the teachers talk about the children from other classes in their spare time.

“Obviously she knows more about the insides of an automobile than the whole teacher’s staff combined,” Castiel states amused. “Impressive for an eight-year-old.”

Dean laughs. “What can I say? Like father, like daughter.”

“May I … may I ask about her mother?” Castiel seems hesitant like this is some utterly personal question. But Dean can’t shake the feeling that his neighbor is wondering about his relationship status and Dean needs all his willpower not to beam at that.

“There is not much to tell,” Dean tells. “We were never serious or something like that. Emma was a big surprise and after she was born, I got full custody. I was thrilled to be a Dad, her Mom … well, she doesn’t exactly love the whole maternal stuff. Emma still visits her once a month at least and they get along quite well and I think that’s awesome because every child needs their mother, right? But it’s nothing more than that.”

“It’s a huge responsibility to raise a child all by yourself.” Castiel sounds as if this is the biggest accomplishment he ever heard of and Dean can’t stop the blush that’s creeping up his cheeks. He’s totally sincere and Dean doesn’t know how to handle that. “You should be proud of yourself.”

Who says stuff like that to a guy he barely knows?

Well, apparently Castiel does.

And for some freaky reason it just sounds right. He seems to be someone who just says what’s on his mind and that’s really a nice change.

“Tell me more about Emma,” Castiel encourages. “Is she just as enthralled with _Frozen_ like the majority of my class?”

“Just for a short period, thank God,” Dean laughs.

After that the conversation flows easily. He has no problem to talk about Emma for hours and hours at a time and Castiel does seem interested in even the tiniest bit of information. It’s not just a facade, he genuinely wants to know, and Dean’s enormous crush grows and grows like crazy. How the hell could you not fall in love with a guy who looks so honestly happy listening to a proud father rambling.

And then Castiel starts to talk about himself and Dean absorbs it like a sponge. He has got two siblings – Gabriel, a menace in human shape, and Balthazar, an owner of a night club who _loves_ every minute of it – and a very absent father somewhere around the world. Soon Castiel knew he wanted to be a teacher and he feels special joy in guiding the youngest. He had a nice position in Pittsburgh before but after some nasty comments from the other teachers regarding his sexuality and a bad break-up with his now ex-boyfriend (and Dean really tries not cheer at these new information) he decided it would be time for a new start.

After that Dean tries to mention one of his ex-boyfriends casually, just to let Castiel know he is an – _very enthusiastic_ – option but then Emma appears besides them and announces, “I found my basketball.”

Dean throws a glance at his watch and notices that she was in the garden for about fifteen minutes. Suddenly he feels very bad since he’s quite certain he saw the ball through the kitchen window when he entered the house and Emma probably did too but she gave them some time to talk and pretended to search way longer than she needed to.

He has got the best daughter in the world.

“Yeah, okay.” Dean feels disappointed for leaving so soon since he has got no clue when would be the next time he’d grow some balls to talk to Castiel again but he won’t force Emma to spend more time in this house because of her pathetic father.

“Do you really need to go?” Castiel suddenly wants to know. “Since I’d like to ask a favor of you, Emma, if it’s not too forward.”

Emma frowns. “… Okay?”

Castiel smiles. “Would you like to keep Mojo some company?”

And he points at something behind Emma’s back. She turns around and notices Castiel’s puppy that has been in his dog bed in the living room all this time, silent, watching them. His tail is waggling like crazy when all the attention falls on him.

“He really loves to play in the garden,” Castiel explains. “And he has a fondness for children as I learned. You would do me a great favor. But only if you want, of course.”

Emma’s eyes light up like a Christmas tree. “ _Oh my God_!” she gapes as if Castiel offered her the Holy Grail. “Can I play with Mojo, Daddy? _Pleeeeeaaaaaase_!”

Dean laughs loudly. “Of course, sweetie! Knock yourself out!”

And before they know it his daughter and a very excited puppy run into the backyard.

“She loves dogs.” Dean shrugs his shoulders. “I’m thinking about getting one for some time now but …”

“It’s a huge responsibility.” Castiel nods in understanding. “You really shouldn’t make that decision lightheartedly.”

And suddenly they’re talking about dogs and the shelter Castiel helps sometimes (could that guy be any more perfect?) and then about Sam and his love for dogs. And yeah, Sam is another topic Dean can ramble on for hours.

He only stops when he looks at the clock at some time and realizes how late it is already. “Oh damn,” he mumbles. “Hey, Cas, I’m really sorry but we need to go. My mom expects us in an hour.”

“Of course,” Castiel says, not even flinching at the nickname Dean blurted out accidentally. “It was really nice talking with you. We should do this another time.”

Dean feels his heart speed up. “Uh … like a date?”

 _Shit_!

Did he seriously just say that?

Stupid mouth and stupid gorgeous blue eyes that make him forget anything else!

Castiel looks surprised because he obviously didn’t mean it like that and Dean is about to take it all back and laugh it off but then Castiel smiles fondly. “Yes, like a date. If that’s alright with you?”

Alright? It sound fucking fantastic!

“Awesome!” Dean can’t help the grin that splits his face. Castiel blushes slightly at the sight and that might be one of the best things Dean ever witnessed. “But …”

“But?”

Dean clears his throat. “Before we do that I’ve gotta confess something. Since Emma or one of our noisy neighbors will spill it out sometime and you should hear it from me.”

He feels so comfortable around Castiel and he seriously doesn’t know how the hell he could be afraid of the guy before?

“What is it, Dean?”

“I’m … _pathetic_!” Dean explains. “And I mean, embarrassingly pathetic. People cried over this, honestly.” He huffs a laugh. “I’m trying to talk to you for weeks now. From the first moment I saw you I wanted to ask you out on a nice date or at least talk to you without making a fool of myself. And _everybody_ knows around here! _Freaking everybody_!” He shakes his head. “And I was the one that threw Emma’s basketball into your backyard since I hoped that would give me an excuse to talk to you. And obviously it worked! But still … it’s super pathetic.”

Castiel looks highly amused by all this and Dean can’t blame him.

“It’s funny,” Castiel finally says. “I had the same problem as you. I wanted to approach you but you weren’t very responsive. In an embarrassing attempt I even threw one of my letters in your mailbox and hoped you would come over and we could strike a conversation.”

Dean laughs loudly. “Oh my God, that was you?”

Obviously he found the perfect guy for him.

“We’re a couple of dumbasses, aren’t we?”

Castiel shrugs. “Maybe. Or we are a match made in Heaven.”

And normally such a line would scare Dean off, even as a harmless joke, but now he can’t do nothing else than smile brightly.

“Yeah, maybe we are.”

And when two days later, after their first date, Castiel kisses him passionately in the Impala and suggests something about a picnic with Emma and Mojo for the next day, Dean is more than sure that they _most certainly are_.

**Author's Note:**

> I've got inspired by a German advertisment and just thought, "Hey, imagine your OTP!" :D
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> [My tumblr](http://all-i-need-is-destiel.tumblr.com/)
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> (I'm nice, I promise ;D)


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